Results 4,501-4,520 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge he is passionate about it and wants to see reform in the area, especially when it relates to the impact relationships breaking down can have on children in families. As he will know, I have been leading a programme of family justice reform set out in the first Family Justice Strategy, which was published in November 2022. I set...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Specifically on the concept of parental alienation, the report clearly showed that where there is a system that does not work as effectively as it should and where the structures are not as effective as they could be, it allows the potential for abuse to continue and particular abuses to continue in respect of parental alienation, even into the courts. That is the finding from much of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. Like him, this is an issue that has come to my door as a TD for many years, since I was first elected. Families will always come who are going through a very difficult situation. With these structural changes, I hope to provide a less adversarial approach and, where it is not possible to remove that, the structures to support families to get the right outcome so that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree with the Deputy's initial point. As a country, we have been and will continue to be extremely welcoming. All of us in this House should reject some of the commentary by and actions of certain individuals who want to send a different message. We need to ensure that we have a system that functions, that people get answers as quickly as possible and that those who do not have a right...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy that this is on the agenda for all of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meetings that I attend. I will be at one again next week. I was at one only a couple of weeks ago. We have spent years debating and seeking to agree the new migration pact, which I am pleased to say has finally been agreed. The pact will allow an approach where we have a better, more transparent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that we not just have the required number of gardaí, but that they have the resources they need to protect us and themselves in order that Ireland is a safe and secure country. In 2024, I have provided a budget allocation of €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána, an increase of 25% since 2020. This will allow for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Of the 6,300 who recently applied.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy is right, in that the figures show that many gardaí from recent intakes have gone to Dublin, particularly when there has been a greater need. What we do not see in those figures is that transfers are now taking place, with some gardaí based in Dublin transferring out to other counties. The figures show one or two going directly from Templemore to those counties, but I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: We always said that there would be five classes last year. The first class was slightly earlier than this year's class. While the December class came out a few weeks earlier, that was to ensure that we had a presence. It was always going to be before the end of the year, though. There were always going to be the five intakes, and we had factored that in from the beginning of the year....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: My Department and I are taking every necessary step to manage the international protection process as efficiently and effectively as we can while ensuring that the integrity of the process is maintained at all times. During 2023, the number of applications was 13,277. While this was a slight decrease of 3% on 2022, it still represented an increase of 177% on the number that was received pre...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Immigration Support Services (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The simple answer is that the service will continue to engage. The service has operated since 2008 to assist Oireachtas Members to make representations on behalf of their constituents in respect of individual immigration applications. Since its establishment, the service has dealt with almost 80,000 requests. Last year alone, it answered more than 6,600 queries with more than 90% of these...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Immigration Support Services (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. A number of measures are in train to try to reduce any backlog. This is the concern that people have and why they come to us asking where their application is in the system. There are no plans to expand what is being responded to. The only other option is international protection. Under the 2015 Act, we cannot identify or provide information to somebody other than...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Immigration Support Services (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: We are continually investing in the overall immigration system. There has been a particular focus on the IPO because of the significant increase in the number of international protection applicants. We have almost doubled the number of staff. This has allowed us to improve the systems. I need to make sure that any of the other applications or routes do not suffer time-wise. This is why...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Community safety is a top priority for my Department and everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their communities. Community CCTV plays a vital role in achieving this goal. As the Deputy may be aware, since 2017 my Department has administered a grant-aid scheme supporting groups wishing to establish a community-based CCTV system in their area. The CCTV grant scheme was extended in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: From the outset I would like to assure the Deputy that the development of a substantial new Garda station and facilities on Dublin City Council lands at the corner of the R139 and the Malahide Road at Northern Cross is considered a strategic priority project by An Garda Síochána, and has the full support of Government. The Office of Public Works (OPW) are leading on this project...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: One of the overarching goals of the Zero Tolerance Strategy to address domestic, sexual and gender based violence (DSGBV), is ensuring that everyone who needs a refuge space will get one, and Government has committed to working with the sector to double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy, bringing it to 280 by the end of 2026. The Government agreed to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Substance Misuse (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, the Government’s approach to the misuse of drugs is set out in Ireland’s National Drug Strategy, ‘Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery’. This is a health-led approach to drug and alcohol use in Ireland, and it represents a whole-of-Government response to reduce demand and associated harms. The Government is also committed to limiting access to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Work Permits (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: In 2022, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Health and my Department introduced changes to the working arrangements and immigration permissions for non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHD). These changes were intended to be beneficial to doctors who require such permissions and who have made an enormous contribution to the Irish health service. The...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: In 2024, I have provided a budget allocation of over €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána. This is a 25% increase on 2020 and will allow for the sustained recruitment of between 800 to 1,000 new Garda recruits in 2024. At the end of December last, there were just under 14,000 Gardaí. While this reflects a decrease over the course of the pandemic, it represents an increase...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Coroners Service (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Coroners (Amendment) Act 2024, which the President signed into law on 16 February, is intended to ensure continuity of coroner services in the Dublin district. The Dublin district had been operating on the basis of temporary provisions not suited to the needs of a bust office or the development of a high quality service into the future. More broadly, I am committed to bringing proposals...